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A-1 On Aids
posted (June 24, 2014)
The trade workshop was held at the Biltmore Plaza Hotel and in the room next door the National AIDS Commission was making a presentation to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, & Malaria. The Commission is trying to secure grant funding to continue its work.

The Fund Portfolio Manager for the Global Fund told us today that the organization is impressed with the country's performance to earn an "A1" Rating:

Matthew MacGregor, Fund Portfolio Manager - Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
"I'm here today in Belize to support the National AIDS Commission and the CCM (country coordinating mechanism) which are two bodies that work closely with the global fund to access funding for HIV and tuberculosis here in Belize."

"Today we are working through the focus areas that that funding will support alongside the National AIDS Commission and the Ministry of Health from the Belize government."

Geovannie Brackett, reporter
"Being one of the largest funders as it relates to those issue here in the country particularly AIDS, could you give us like a sum of what the last sum that your organization have donated to the country of Belize."

Matthew MacGregor
"Rather than look to the past we will look to the future. There is allocations available for Belize of approximately 3 million dollars overall. About 1.2 million dollars for TB and about 2 million dollars for HIV and this will be funding that Belize hopefully will be able to access. In order to access they have to go through a process which is why I am here that they are going through right now where they decide as a country how we are going to support the disease strategy. One of the goals of the global fund is to support the disease strategy of the country. The fight against HIV and tuberculosis in Belize is a fight that we are happy to support, but it's really a fight of the Belize people and the Belize government, so we are simply supporting that disease strategy."

Geovannie Brackett, reporter
"When you look at how Belize has performed, how would you categorize or describe it?"

Matthew MacGregor
"Belize currently has a grant. The principal recipient is UNDP and is a grant that has been very successful in Belize. It's got a very good rating with the global fund and we are thrill that the National Aids Commission and the CCM and UNDP have done a very good job implementing the grant. They've had a lot of support from the Ministry of Health which has been crucial. From our perspective we have a lot to build on; we have good performance, the gnat is having impact, it's reaching out to those populations that are most vulnerable and so as we look towards the future we will be looking to build on that success."

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